Influence of process parameters on the growth of pure-phase anatase and rutile TiO2 thin films deposited by low temperature reactive magnetron sputtering

Abstract

In this work is investigated the optimal conditions for deposition of pure-phase anatase and rutile thin films prepared at low temperatures (less than 150 0 C) by reactive dc magnetron sputtering onto well-cleaned p-type Si substrates. For this, the variation of deposition plasma parameters as substrate-to-target distance, total gas pressure, oxygen concentration, and substrate bias were studied and correlated with the characteristics of the deposited films. The XRD analysis indicates the formation of pure rutile phase when the substrate is biased at voltages between −200 and −300 V. Pure anatase phase is only attained when the total pressure is higher than 0.7 Pa. Moreover, it's noticeable a strong dependence of surface roughness with parameters studied.

Surface properties and biocompatibility of nanostructured TiO2 film deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

“…The working pressure at which the sputtering takes place has an important impact on the growth process of thin films. At high working pressures, such as (3, 5) Pa as shown respectively in Figures 2 a,b, because of shorter collisional mean free path of the particles, the sputtered atoms suffer multiple collisions before reaching the substrate, so they cannot make their proper arrangement on reaching the substrate on account of their reduced kinetic/collisional energies and hence form large clusters of particles during the film deposition [ 21 ]. High kinetic energies are needed for the reorganization of atoms on the substrate which leads to an improved crystalline structure.…”

Relationships among growth mechanism, structure and morphology of PEALD TiO2films: the influence of O2plasma power, precursor chemistry and plasma exposure mode

“…A variety of techniques have been employed to produce TiO 2 films, including physical vapor deposition (PVD) [12][13][14], chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [15,16], plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) [17,18], and atomic layer deposition (ALD) [19]. Among them, ALD has been recognized as the most suitable to achieve conformality, uniformity, and specific material properties on the nanoscale required in some of the aforementioned applications [19,20].…”

Electrical Properties of Nanocrystalline Strontium Barium Niobate Thin Films Deposited at Room Temperature

“…At higher deposition pressures, because of the shorter collisional mean free path of the particles, the sputtered atoms suffer multiple collisions before reaching the substrate; they cannot make proper arrangements on reaching the substrate owing to their reduced kinetic energies; hence, they form large grains during deposition. (17) Thus, the grain growth of the SBN thin films increases as the deposition pressure increases from 5 to 30 mTorr. From these results, the deposition pressure at which the sputtering takes place has an important impact on the growth process of thin films.…”